Synopsis (from Goodreads):It's June of 1936. The Biggest Little City in the World finds itself in the middle of the divorce craze. While the country struggles with the Depression, wealthy people head to Reno for the cure. War is coming and the world is changing. Women are discovering their voices as they fling their wedding rings from the bridge into the Truckee River. Join Maggie, Dorothy and Claire as they arrive on the Washoe Ranch to rid themselves of their stale marriages, only to learn that they had created lives for themselves that they never dreamed possible.

My Thoughts:
I received this book for review from the author in exchange for my honest review:

This was such a cute story, I really really enjoyed it. I had not read any historical fiction before (I started The Other Boleyn Girl but never finished) and I am so glad I decided to give this book a chance. I had read the synopsis and thought it sounded interesting. I hadn't heard about divorce ranches.

The book was really well written. There were several characters who all had their time in the spotlight. I liked how the book was laid out- the first three "chapters" were devoted to getting to know the three "main" characters of the book- Maggie Warner Carmichael, Dorothy Adams, and Claire Brown. After that we go on an adventure with these three characters, and then are introduced to Helen Smith, the owner of the ranch. The story follows each of the three main characters and their fun adventures on the ranch. The story has some interesting twists and turns.

I thought it was really interesting to see how things once were and how they are now. Examples of this include the entire premise of the story- going to Reno for 6 weeks in order to obtain a quick divorce (rather than calling the number on one of the posters you see on telephone poles), women not being able to vote, the view on lesbians, and the entire shock of having blacks in the Olympics (page 132). Today, we often forget that things were not always how they are now. It was fun to get other tidbits of information about the past throughout the book.

As I mentioned, the story is so cute and the book is really well written. I recommend this book to any of you who are interested in Historical Fiction. Even if you aren't, I suggest picking up this book. Its an easy read and really really enjoyable.

Major lesson learned:
Goes to show you that you should just let life happen… things will work out.

Memorable Quotes:
"It's too beautiful up here to sleep all day. When you die you have all the time in the world to catch up on your sleep" (77)

"Life's too short to only enjoy alcohol in the evening" (84)

"That's the problem with most men. They think of woman as possessions, not people. We are to be shown on their arms all dolled up with gobs of makeup on our faces and we are to keep our mouths shut, because God forbid we have anything important to say." (185)

https://www.facebook.com/jacwrightbooks/posts/813253018691959Follow the URL above to vote and enter the contest.I shall draw one winner from the first 200 entries (with all +2 entries also counted.) I shall draw a second winner from the first 500 entries, and a third winner from the first 1000 entries.Please follow the link and enter the poll. I really need your help to decide. The images are in the alphabetical order of their titles.http://bit.ly/1h6Z9GF

The contest vote counts will be updated regularly on my contest page on Wix and the winners will be announced on the page and by email.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I AM LOOKING FOR BLOG INTERVIEWERS AND BOOK REVIEWERS FOR MY AUTHOR CLIENTS. RIGHT NOW I HAVE:Catherine MacDonald, author of historical fiction, The Divorce Ranch

It's June of
1936. The Biggest Little City in the World finds itself in the middle of the
divorce craze. While the country struggles with the Depression, wealthy people
head to Reno for the cure. War is coming and the world is changing. Women are
discovering their voices as they fling their wedding rings from the bridge into
the Truckee River. Join Maggie, Dorothy and Claire as they arrive on the Washoe
Ranch to rid themselves of their stale marriages, only to learn that they had
created lives for themselves that they never dreamed possible. http://tinyurl.com/laegb44

Patricia Crandall, author of, Pat's Collectibles, book of short stories.

In the short stories, The Crazy Jug, The Pink Victorian
Lady, Frogs, Gnomes, Hikers and Bottle Miners, The Conjurer, and The Rescue,
Gert Carver and Nina Westacott meet an eclectic variety of characters as they
trade-off collectibles and old bottles at flea markets and solve gentle
mysteries involving neighbors, relatives, past students, farmers and hicks in
and around the upstate New York community of Indian Falls. Gert and Nina are
likeable protagonists, and Patricia Crandall has revealed a life unknown to
most city dwellers. http://tinyurl.com/ma4q74n

If anyone would like to interview/review either or both of these authors, please let me know at writingfriend@yahoo.com

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Hello writing friends. It's contest time. We are looking for flash fiction stories under 1000 words, and we're only accepting the first 30 (thirty) entries. So get your story in right away if you want to be counted. This is a NO FEE contest. Check your spelling and grammar. The deadline is: February 28, 2014. We won't take anything after that date. The judging will be done in March and we'll let the winners know by the end of March. Your story will be posted on Patricia Crandall's blog for one month. It will stay published on Linda Barnett-Johnson's blog, unless asked to be removed. It will also be featured on the home page of Long Story Short e-zine. Please put 'CONTEST' in the subject line. Please copy and paste onto the body of the email. You don't have to send an attachment.

Please, no previously published work.

Here's what is being given away by Patricia Crandall, author of The Dog Men, Pat's Collectibles and winner of several short story submissions.

PRIZES:

First - $30.00; published on 2 blogs and LSS e-zine.

2nd - autographed copy of The Dog Men plus the new Steven King or another bestselling author;

3rd - autographed copy of Pat's Collectibles paired with the latest Mary Higgins Clark or another top selling book.

As you can see, this is a win-win situation. We'd like to suggest no profanity, explicit sex, or abuse of animals or people. Use our good ol' English language.

We look forward to reading your flash fiction stories. Only one submission per author.